3-29-2011

Sitting as a family, eating popcorn, snuggling under blankets and watching Tangled. What a perfect evening with my family. I love the movie Tangled and love my family even more.

3-28-2011

So happy to have this done and it is the best chart I have ever made. Anyone helping out with my kids while Kimball and I are gone will know where, what and when. It feels good to know that things should move smoothly while I'm gone.

3-27-2011

David and Julie are expecting!!!!

This is news we have all been waiting for, well at least I have :) David gave the blessing on the food during our family dinner tonight and at the end he added "We are grateful that Julie is expecting, in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen". It shocked everyone. They then unzipped their jackets to reveal their shirts.

Congratulations David and Julie. We are so excited for you.

3-26-2011

That is a picture of what my phone said was the time when I woke up this morning. I REALLY slept in this morning and it felt great.

Food Budget

I'm sooo bad. I do not have a "budget" for food. I spend way too much on it. I have decided that it is time to put our family on food budget. So what is a good amount? How many do you feed and what is your weekly budget?

Thanks for sharing :)

3-25-2011

I finally got my luggage out of storage and maybe, just maybe, I'll start packing before a couple of hours before I leave for the airport :) I'm so looking forward to this vacation. I need it!!

3-24-2011

Date Night with William and Collin. So much fun and I FINALLY found something that I like on their menu. I love spending time with my kids. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.

3-23-2011

I pulled down my "shore excursion" bag from the top of my closet and found a wonderful surprise - Josh's Camera!!!!! I used it in October on our Hawaiian cruise and never knew where it went. So glad to find it. And even more excited to see what pictures are on it.

3-22-2011

I can NOT believe that I went and got myself a pair of shoes Toms, but I'm sure happy that I did. I love them. I just might have to go and get a couple more pairs!!

3-21-2011

My boys are so rough on the cabinets and woodwork in our home. So many scratches and dings that it was starting to really bother me. The area around the garbage drawer was the worse. Good News, we found our container of stain that was used to stain the wood in our house and everything now looks fresh and new. I'm a happy wife :) Thank you Kimball

The Help

I finished reading "The Help" this morning. What a wonderful book. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good book to read. I'm really looking forward to the movie coming out.

Written for Me

We had the wonderful opportunity to have Elder Russell M. Ballard come and speak to us during all our Stake Conference Sessions this weekend. What a wonderful experience. I felt the spirit and loved his messages. But it wasn't his talk that touched me the most. It was President Server's talk during the Adult Session that I feel was written just for me.

Before Conference we were delivered a formal letter from the Stake Presidency that invited us to conference. In that letter the Stake Presidency pleads with us to pray before attending the meetings and to come ready to have our questions or concerns answered. So I did pray but I didn't think I had any questions or concerns until President Server started to speak.

See, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about moving. Feeling like I needed a fresh and new start. I've let myself get so worked up and frustrated inside that I've felt that the only way I will "fit in" or feel like I was apart of something is if I moved. I won't go into details of why I felt this way because I know now that it doesn't matter.

President Server's words were like a light bulb turning on in my head. He said "One of the greatest virtues one can have is to be willing to change." What a wonderful truth. Moving is not the answer, changing is. I have to be willing to change. I have to not judge those around me or those situations that frustrate me. I can not change others. I must change myself. Thank You President Server for that wonderful message.

I am so grateful for my membership in the Church. How blessed we are to have such wonderful servants of the Lord come and speak and teach us. We are so blessed to have the knowledge of the atonement. And to have a knowledge of what we need to do to return to our Heavenly Father and have eternal life. I feel joy and peace.

3-20-2011

My kids love love love Swedish Pancakes and today after church Justin begged me to make them for dinner. They take so long to make but I agreed and we had them for dinner. I should really make them more often.

3-19-2011

Prom Night!!



They are so dang cute together. She looked amazing and Josh looks very tall and handsome.

(Thanks Jamie for letting me "lift" this picture from your blog. None of mine off my phone turned out)

3-18-2011

With kess than two weeks left before I leave on my Cruise to Hawaii, I'm spending a little time trying to add some color to my fluorescent skin :) I'm so white that I glow and I would like to wear a swimsuit without blinding people...that and maybe this time I won't burn while on the cruise!!

3-17-2011

It's St. Patrick's Day!!!!

A Leprechaun visited our house this morning.  He left lots of shamrocks throughout the house showing proof of where he left his "mess".   From Green Milk, Green Pancakes, Gold Coins, Gold Chocolate Nuggets and Green Toilet Water...we had a lot of fun this morning.  Kaylee loved it all.  She really hopes to catch the Leprechaun next year.  :)

I'm William's co-Room Mom so once he left for school I started working on his class room surprise.  Green Scrambled Eggs and Green Ham.  YUCK.  Once I got to the school the other room mom and myself went wild on the room while the kids were at computer lab.  Everything was turned upside down.  We turned all of Mr Goodman's puppets and stuffed animals around.  You name it, we probably did it.  What a blast.

Here is what the room looked like when we left.

When William came home he was all smiles and had to tell me all about what the leprechaun's had done to his class room.  He said it was the best school day ever.

Here is what William's teacher, Mr Goodman emailed me:
Oh, oh, oh, oh . . . WOW. The best we've ever had. Thank you so much for the sweet gift you left our classroom today. That was so much fun. The kids were in true belief mode! None of the kids said anything about it being you, so please keep it a secret. William said a few things about the pots at his house but it's all good, not too many kids heard or understood what he was saying. They were all too crazy to even stop and think about what he was saying. What a blast. I'm sure once you got started you couldn't stop. That was obvious. Holy cow. Was there anything you didn't touch? Ha, ha, ha. Seriously, thank you for making today such an adventure. All is well and back to normal.

It's so fun being part of creating memories for our kids. Love it!!

3-16-2011

Marv and Barbie, my Father-in-law and his wife, brought us dinner tonight. I feel guilty letting them because I can now walk and I'm doing ok, but sweet Barbie insisted. I so appreciate their kindness and love for me and our family. I love having Barbie in our family.

3-15-2011

There is nothing better than a friend making you dinner. Thank you Julie for such a yummy yummy meal. You are such a good friend and a great cook.

3-14-2011

After having it on our list of "To Do" Family Home Evenings, we finally put together our 72 hour kits. It feels good to have that done.

I was able to get up and shower again today. I fixed my hair and everything. I had a few more things to get for our 72 hour kits so I knew that I had to go to Wal-Mart. But I'm paying the price for it now...I pushed myself too far and I'm back in bed.

When I got up this morning I knew my house would be a mess and I had expected it, but what I saw was NOT expected in the least. There was oatmeal all over my hardwood floor. Down the hall, on the stairs, in the kitchen, on the counters, on the kitchen table, on the coffee table, on the end tables.......EVERYWHERE. Once I started to inspect things a little better I see that there is cupcake pieces stuck to the pictures hanging on the walls, on my ceiling fan, in the plants, on my couches and in every corner of my living room.

WHAT THE HECK!!!!!

So I find out that last night Justin told Josh, Preston and William that he would pay $10 to the person that got their cupcake to explode the best. Josh won. Preston thought it would be fun to throw an open packet of oatmeal into the fan to see what it would do. Justin had also said he would pay $80 to the person willing to throw a bag of flour into the fan...No one did that one thank goodness.

They insisted that they cleaned it up the best they could and didn't understand why I was so upset. I'm still trying to calm down over it. A few people, mostly family posted on Facebook that I would look back on this and laugh but I'm almost sure that I won't...EVER.

3-13-2011

The highlight of today was that sweet little Kaylee remembered me before all the cupcakes were gone :) She came in with a big smile and said "Mommy, I thought this cupcake could make you feel better." I sure do love her.

I'm still down, flat on my back but tonight I'm taking a pain pill!!! Maybe that will work.

Potty Training

Those that know me, know that I've written a book about potty training. We were made aware of someone passing my eBook around the Internet for free using Yahoo to do so.

Using Yahoo's services they have posted the eBook in a forum for anyone to get a free copy. This has spread like wildfire and now blogs and mommy forums from all over are sharing this link with each other so that they can "spread the love" (as one mom put it) with everyone.

We contacted Yahoo about this as it is a copyright infringement for the person to be posting my eBook online and Yahoo can be held accountable for damages. I got an email back from Yahoo stating that they do see the copyright infringement and apologize for the trouble this is causing me but that they would like a legal form submitted requesting that it be removed. REALLY? Why can't they just take the dang thing down? They admit that it is a copyright infringement so why not just remove it? Large companies really make things difficult for us smaller companies.

But as frustrated as I am with Yahoo, at least I know it will be down soon.

3-12-2011

It really is hard coming up with a Picture of the Day when you can't get out of bed so I thought I'd share with you what my view has been the last five days :)

I finally turned the TV off. I can't stand to watch a minute more, it is all garbage. I've had a lot of time though to read scriptures and explore the Church's websites. All Good Reads.

This evening I gave in and took a muscle relaxer. I fight taking any type of medicine because I feel that people over medicate themselves...but I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm sure hoping it works its magic and that I can get up and moving around soon.

3-11-2011

After being in bed, flat on my back since Tuesday...I finally got up late this afternoon and took a shower. Right now I'm truly grateful for warm running water, it never felt so good.

It took everything out of me to take that shower but it felt so good. I sure wish my back would hurry and get better because I'm beyond bored and I'm sure I've over texted my friends because they have all stopped responding. Not that I blame them :)

I also hate that I can't keep up on my house. My boys are....well, BOYS and they don't do anything on their own. Mommy being laid up in bed means freedom to them. Kaylee is a constant tornado. She's my five boys in one when it comes to messes. She does try to clean up though...But her cleaning usually means a bigger mess. Got to love it. My parents...well, we won't go there, I'll just say that they are of NO HELP. Kimball, bless his heart. He LOVES a clean house but when he has to do it, the standards are a little relaxed :) He has been so great though to try and pick up every so often because I hear him out there doing thing, like the dishes. Sure do love him.

I also miss cooking. I can't believe I said that :) But I really do. I think the reason I miss cooking so much is because I'm starving for something besides soda and jelly belly jelly beans oh and I can't forget the popcorn that Kaylee made me!! hmmmm, what will I cook first?

3-10-2011

While being laid up in bed I've had time to re-watch some of my favorite movies. Besides these, I've had fun with Netflix. Got to love it.

Horrible picture - I know. I should figure out how to make it black and white...maybe that would make it look better :)

3-9-2011

I've been flat on my back all day because my back went out. Being that I can't get up and walk, I'm dependant on my family to feed me. This is what I ate all day today. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. Got to love them but I can definitely say that I'm sick of them and I so need some real food. If I'm still flat on my back tomorrow, I'll have to call my friends to save me :)

Other interesting things that happened today - Kimball went to a meeting at Williams school and signed the last bit of paperwork to official withdraw him from Speech. He has tested above average in speech for children of his age and grade. I'm so proud of him because he has only been talking for the last three years. I love you Willabee!

Also, Cassidy responded to Josh's Prom request. She brought over four containers of Skittles. On a few of the Skittles were the letters to spell out "I would love to!" Way Way Cute and he actually did it in front of her because she was here visiting with me when he came home. She's so dang cute.

3-8-2011

Mascara!!



I have gone through a Mascara Nightmare.  I ran out of mascara two weeks ago so I headed to Wal-Mart to get some to only find that they were out of the mascara I use.  So I spent $10 on one that I hadn't tried before in hopes that it would be ok. 

It was the worse mascara I've ever used.

Went to Target to see if they had my mascara and I was so excited that they did.  Bring it home and go to use it and dang it, I got the wrong color.  I have very blonde eyelashes and I have to have very black for them to show up and without mascara I look very funny.  Brown Mascara just doesn't cut it.

Back to Target again and made sure I picked up Very Black.  Finally, I have the mascara that I love.  Wrong again!  Same packaging, same everything but this mascara was waterproof.  I hate waterproof mascara because I can never get it off.

Was I ever going to get the right Mascara?  Yes I did.  I was so happy to finally go to Wal-Mart and find my Very Black Mascara that wasn't waterproof!!

Food Storage

I'm very frustrated with my food storage. I clearly need help in this area because I just had to throw away about $600 worth of food because it was very outdated.

I'm not good with rotating things in my food storage and I know they say to put things into your food storage that you will use, but I can't store fresh Veggies or Meat and that is what we eat.

I've thought about just buying the freeze dried tins of food that last for 30 years. But that is crazy expensive. I guess I can buy a little each month.

What are your thoughts? What do you have in your food storage? What are the musts? How much wheat should we have stored? How do you store your food? Give me your run down.

Of Things That Matter Most

Tonight for Family Home Evening we watched the conference talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Of Things That Matter Most". If you'd like to watch, listen or read the talk you can find it here.

Even though I have watched and read this talk a couple of times since conference something stood out to me today.

He says "As we evaluate our own lives with a willing mind, we will see where we have drifted from the more excellent way. The eyes of our understanding will be opened, and we will recognize what needs to be done to purify our heart and refocus our life."

He then shares four key relationships that are essential for us to have. The one that stood out to me most was the Fourth Key.

He says "The fourth key relationship is with ourselves. It may seem odd to think of having a relationship with ourselves, but we do. Some people can’t get along with themselves. They criticize and belittle themselves all day long until they begin to hate themselves. May I suggest that you reduce the rush and take a little extra time to get to know yourself better. Walk in nature, watch a sunrise, enjoy God’s creations, ponder the truths of the restored gospel, and find out what they mean for you personally. Learn to see yourself as Heavenly Father sees you—as His precious daughter or son with divine potential."

I think we often find fault in ourselves, I know I do. I find fault and criticize myself daily but my goal is to now have a relationship with myself.

I sure do love President Uchtdorf. I love the messages he shares.

3-7-2011

Late last night Josh decided that he was going to ask Cassidy to HER Prom which is in less than two weeks. March 19th. I told him that if he was going to ask her, he better do it very quick. So he did it this afternoon while she was at school.

He got a small kiddy pool, filled it with lots of candy, toys and a few other things and then covered it with two bags of playground sand.

The note was attached to a shovel that read "Cassidy, I'd dig it if you'd go to Prom with me!" In a notebook he covered up with sand he put a smiley face on one of the pages. He said that she would know it was from him if he did that!!

It was so cute. Of course I'm sure the mess it made inside the Forsyth's home wasn't as cute.

3-6-2011

I've been struggling with a few alot of things lately. While trying to work through, and deal with these things I have spent a lot of time praying for help.

I would spend night after night laying in bed for hours crying myself to sleep wondering why I hadn't been given an answer or at least some kind of direction on how to handle my situation. But this all changed today.

We try to read scriptures every morning as a family and have for a very long time, but I personally have not done any personal scripture study in months. As I sat on the couch in the living room I looked over and saw my scriptures sitting there. I stared at them for a good five minutes and then reached over to pick them up. The moment I did, I was filled with the spirit and got an overwhelming feeling that my help was in the scriptures. I needed to read them more and apply them into my daily life and my struggles will feel less of a burden.

I'm truly grateful for my membership in the church and for the scriptures and all that I can learn from them.

3-5-2011

Today I put on a Bridal Shower for Kristy Whited. Kristy is one of "MY" Laurels from back when I was in YW. I loved my calling so much and I loved the girls even more. I had three Laurels. Ausia, Kristy and Brittnie. All three girls have kept in touch with me. I always get sweet text from them updating me on their lives.

My dad made the cake for the shower. And this picture does NOT give it justice and it's the best one I took :) He hand made every single rose that went on the cupcakes. Each rose takes 15 minutes to make and he did 63 of them!!! He made the purse, high heel shoe and the pearls. It was so nice. I love how my dad can take my vision and create the cakes that I need and want.

3-4-2011

Today I got to go to the Marriage, Sealing, Family Luncheon and Reception for Mark and Kaylie McRae. What a sweet and beautiful day. I'm excited to have them in our very blended and mixed family!!

3-3-2011

This morning I made Orange Pull-Apart Bread. It came out of the oven so perfect and I ran to get my phone to take a picture of it but I was too slow. It was clearly a hit and I was left with taking a picture of a piece instead of the full thing :)

It's always nice to find something that my kids will actually like!!

3-2-2011

Miss Independent...I'm sorry I mean Miss Kaylee :)

Kaylee loves helping in the kitchen. I use to give her little things to do but she pushes to do more and more. Today she insisted on cracking the eggs herself and whipping them up. I'm impressed that she didn't get any shells in the bowl. She's a pro!! I love my Kaylee

3-1-2011

I was all set to have my POTD to be the picture I took of my new vacuum. The old vacuum I had was given to Kimball and myself when we got married 19 years ago. It was so time for a new one and I'm so happy.

BUT

As I sat down to post my POTD Kimball came in with these beautiful flowers. I love the "Just Because" flowers. To me, they mean so much more than the flowers I get on Valentines Day and Mother's Day. The "Just Because" flowers actually take thought and care.

Thank you Kimball for making my day. I love you!!

Cooking Classes

Ok - So I'm looking to do another cooking class this month. These are the ones I was trying to decide on. Please let me know if you'd like to go and I'll reserve a place. I just do not want to go alone :)

March 10th 6:30 - 8:30pm Chinese Cooking

March 12th 11am - 1pm Italian Cooking

March 19th 10-1pm Thai Cuisine

March 19th 2-5pm Red, White and Green Italian Night.

March 26th 10-1pm Artisan Breads

Don't those sound yummy??